The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel Crosses the Jordan
3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from (A)Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. 2 (B)Now it happened that at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the (C)ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about [a]2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”
5 Then Joshua said to the people, “(D)Set yourselves apart as holy, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wondrous deeds among you.” 6 And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Carry the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
7 Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to (E)magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. 8 Moreover, you shall command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9 Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come near, and hear the words of Yahweh your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that (F)the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly (G)dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of (H)the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. 12 So now, (I)take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13 And it will be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are [b]flowing down from above [c]will (J)stand in one heap.”
14 So it happened that when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying (K)the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the (L)Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 (M)the waters which were [d]flowing down from above stood and rose up in (N)one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were [e]flowing down toward the sea of the (O)Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm (P)on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground until all the nation had completed crossing the Jordan.
Memorial Stones from the Jordan
4 Now it happened when all the nation had completed crossing the (Q)Jordan, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “(R)Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Carry for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in (S)the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “[f]Cross again before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you carry a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, 6 in order that this would be a sign among you, so that (T)when your children ask [g]later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the (U)waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a (V)memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
8 Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded and carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as Yahweh spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to (W)the lodging place and laid them down there. 9 But Joshua set up twelve (X)stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. 10 Now the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that Yahweh had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed. 11 And it happened when all the people had completed crossing, that the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed before the people. 12 (Y)And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; 13 about 40,000 equipped for war crossed for battle before Yahweh to the desert plains of Jericho.
14 (Z)On that day, Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they [h]feared him, just as they had [i]feared Moses all the days of his life.
15 Then Yahweh said to [j]Joshua, 16 “Command the priests who carry (AA)the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18 So it happened when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were [k]lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before.
19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the (AB)tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20 [l](AC)And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up (AD)at Gilgal. 21 Then he said to the sons of [m]Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall make your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on (AE)dry land.’ 23 For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God had done to the [n]Red Sea, (AF)which He dried up before us until we had crossed, 24 that (AG)all the peoples of the earth may know that the (AH)hand of Yahweh is strong, so that you may [o](AI)fear Yahweh your God [p]forever.”
Parable of the Wedding Feast
7 And He was telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how (A)they were picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, (B)do not recline at the place of honor, lest someone more highly regarded than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then (C)in shame you [a]proceed to occupy the last place. 10 But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, (D)move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who recline at the table with you. 11 (E)For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. 13 But when you give a [b]reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, since they [c]do not have the means to repay you; for it will be repaid to you at (F)the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 But when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “(G)Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Parable of the Dinner
16 And He said to him, “(H)A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many. 17 And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a [d]piece of land and I need to go out and look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.’ 19 And another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you, consider me excused.’ 20 And another one said, ‘(I)I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 And when the slave came back, he reported these things to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the [e]fences, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now many crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, 26 “(J)If anyone comes to Me, and does not [f]hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not (K)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Lest, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and (L)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends [g]a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who (M)does not give up all his own possessions.
34 “Therefore, salt is good, but (N)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35 It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. (O)He who has ears to hear, [h]let him hear.”
O God, Restore Us
For the choir director. [a]El Shoshannim. [b]Eduth. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 O (A)Shepherd of Israel, give ear,
You who guide (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, (E)stir up Your might
And come to save us!
3 O God, (F)restore us
And (G)cause Your face to shine upon us, that we would be saved.
4 O (H)Yahweh God of hosts,
(I)How long will You [c]smolder against the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them to drink tears in [d]large measure.
6 You set us as [e]an object of strife (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies mock us among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, that we might be saved.
8 You removed a (L)vine from Egypt;
You (M)drove out the [f]nations and then You (N)planted it.
9 You (O)cleared the ground before it,
And it (P)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [g]the cedars of God with its (Q)boughs.
11 It sent out its branches (R)to the sea
And its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You (S)broken down its [h]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (T)devours it
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 O God of hosts, (U)return now, we beseech You;
(V)Look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine,
15 Even the [i](W)sapling which Your right hand has planted,
And on the [j]son whom You have [k]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (X)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the (Y)rebuke of Your face.
17 Let (Z)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (AA)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we shall not (AB)turn back from You;
(AC)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 O Yahweh God of hosts, (AD)restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, that we might be saved.
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